Pios cruise past Breaux Bridge

CROWLEY – The more he tried to deflect attention toward the actual game itself, the more it seemed people wanted to talk about the real reason they would be there Thursday night.
Said one longtime Pios fan, “I’ve been there for a lot of special moments, for a lot of years, and I can now say I was there when Coach Cook won his 300th game.”
In his 30th season as a high school head coach, the 18th season at Notre Dame, Lewis Cook joins an elite group of just seven Louisiana head coaches to reach 300 career wins. And he joined a stadium full of fans, each holding 300 wins signs, post game on the field to celebrate a coaching career among the best ever.
“I never dreamed when I began coaching that I would be in this position. Only six other coaches have achieved that and it is an honor to be in that group. I guess you have to hang around for a while to get there, but it took a lot of help from my family, a lot of good assistant coaches and a lot of good kids in our program to help get there. It’s even more special that we were able to do it at home and all those wins came in Acadia Parish at Rayne, Crowley and Notre Dame.”
Oh, by the way, there was a game that made the whole after party possible. A game that was supposed to be every bit the defensive struggle of last year against a Breaux Bridge team that boasted a defensive unit being called the best ever at the school.
It never happened.
Notre Dame rolled to 379 yards of offense and limited the Tigers to 142 yards and just 5 first downs, 131 of those yards coming on four offensive plays. The Pios defense allowed 11 net yards on the other 34 plays and just plain dominated in a 51-21 win that wasn’t even that close.
“I’m amazed at how our kids came out and played. To see how prepared they were, how ready to play they were, I think 300 meant more to them than anyone else. They did this with the way they played.”
Notre Dame halted the first Breaux Bridge possession with a fumble recovery by Hayden McCleary at the Tigers 31 yard line. Five plays later, fullback Ivy Paul Robichaux powered for seven yards to the tigers 12 and on the next play bounced off the right side for a 12 yard TD run and a 7-0 Pios lead.
One minute later, the Tigers were third and nine at their 27. Quarterback Drake Guidry went deep down the Pios sideline and connected with Javin Derousselle for a 73 yard scoring pass to tie the game.
“I’m thinking seven points are going to be hard to come by and they come right back and get it on one play,” added Cook. “I never dreamed the game would go like it did. You work your tail off and they get an easy one to wipe it out.”
The score with 6:51 to go in the first quarter ended up being the last hope Breaux Bridge would have against a Pios defense that did not allow another first down until two minutes to play in the third quarter. The Tigers went three and out on six straight possessions.
Notre Dame took a 14-7 lead on a 37 yard pass from QB Brad Stoma to tight end Ethan Smith. In his first start, the junior tight end caught three passes for 77 yards.
Stoma ran in from 6 yards less than two minutes later for a 21-7 Pios lead. Notre Dame got its third TD in four minutes after Lance Bertrand burst 24 yards to the Tigers one. Stoma took it in to cap a 6 play, 49 yard drive.
Joseph Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a Breaux Bridge touchdown to cut the Pios lead to 28-14 with three minutes to go in the half.
“We finally get ahead and think maybe we can drive a nail in and they run the kickoff back,” laughed Cook. “You can never rest with those guys, but we were able to get a little of it back with Dustin (Reiners).”
QB Brad Stoma found his tight end over the middle again and Ethan Smith put some running back moves on defenders for a 19 yard gain to the Tigers 25. Dustin Reiners split the uprights for a career best 45 yard field goal as time expired in the half with Notre Dame up 31-14.
That nail Cook talked about hammering in came on the first play of the second half. Running back Lance Bertrand cut around a jammed up right side and outran the Breaux Bridge team for a 70 yard touchdown. Bertrand finished the night with 138 yards rushing on 13 carries.
“When you outrun Breaux Bridge, you are running,” Cook noted. “It was just meant for us tonight. It was just our night.”
On the next possession, Notre Dame kept the heat on with a third down pass completion from Stoma to Gabe Gardiner that went for 42 yards. The completion finished Stoma’s night through the air at 6-of-9 for 127 yards with one TD and the senior QB added 15 rushing yards and two scores on the ground. Damon Comeaux covered the final six yards to pay dirt for a 45-14 lead midway through the third quarter.
Breaux Bridge made just its second trip into Pios territory at the ND 49 with two minutes to go in the third quarter. It lasted two plays until Nate Link sacked QB Drake Guidry for a 13 yard loss, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Logan LaGrange at the Tigers 41.
“Our kids were really excited to play this game,” said Cook. “I told our defense at halftime they were playing great. They gave us great field position and were dominant all night. Our offense finished off drives and put up a lot more points than I thought we could get on them.”
Pios reserves capped a 10 play drive with Gabe Petry scoring on a 7 yard run. The Tigers added a late score when Notre Dame turned the ball over on downs at their 20 yard line with 1:40 on the game clock.
A 20 yard TD run by Ruben Hypolite made the final 51-21. The scoring run erased a goose egg on the Tigers rushing stats and provided the final game total, 20 yards on 19 carries against the rugged Pios defense.
An hour later, after a lot of handshakes, picture taking and congratulatory wishes from family, friends, ex players and fellow coaches, most everyone from the Pios home side had emptied onto the playing field and joined with current team members to spell out a giant, human 300 on the field.
Taking it all in with a smile here and a hug there, Lewis Cook kept the accomplishment, the honor, the moment in true coach’s form with one last comment on the evening.
“We’re 2-0 and we have Teurlings next week. We have our work cut out for us, so it’s back to the films and practice to get ready for another tough opponent.”